♦ Oakville Beaver Weekend ♦ Sunday, April 11,199924 Havel & Entertainment An Oakville Beaver Feature To advertise in this section call 845-3824 Fax:845-5516 T r u e N o rth Tall Ship highlights Bronte Festival BRONTE VIEWS Arr there mates, brush off those bar nacles , and join us on Saturday, May 29, 1999 for the Bronte Buccaneer Treasure Hunt in the village of Bronte. The festival will run from 10:00 a.m. to midnight. Highlighting the event is the arrival of the Tall Ship, Challenge. When docked, the Challenge will be available for tours. Most exciting possibility is the pres ence of a second Tall Ship, The "True North", a 118 foot two-masted square topsail schooner. This ship is a tradition- ------------------------ al tall ship and wins the hearts of those who see her. She offers Adventure sail training trips and welcomes the novice. While underway, everyone on board takes part in crewing the ship. True adventures at heart can participate in either Friday, Saturday or Sunday 3-hr. luncheon and dinner cruises. Reserve your spot on deck by calling Bronte BIA (905) 825-3258 ASAR Small frys can get in on the action with a real live treasure hunt For a fee of $5, children can purchase their own treasure map and key. Then the hunt is on where "X" marks the spot for 'buried' treasure. Every participant is guaranteed a sack full of (See 'Dudley' page 25) Join Don Harron & Catherine McKinnon on our escorted 14 Day Black Sea & Greek Isles Cruise on the fabulous H "Norwegian Dream" Departing September 26th, 1999 Better than 2 for 1 cruise fares! Book before May 1st and receive 2 free days in Istanbul! $ Fares 3,995 CDN, p .p ., d b l. occup ., inc lud ins air. Port charges & taxes extra. For details call: zeroises UNE • OAKVILLE • 905 338-20i Nile Cruise filled with ancient and m odem Wonders o f E gypt Last week, we covered the first part of our incredible 18-day "Great Wonders of Egypt" Nile cruise and tour which Martha and I took, accompanied by 30 enthu siastic travellers and our Egyptologist guide. We explained how we were just overwhelmed by the magnifi cence and beauty of the temples, tombs, and statues, most with walls, ceilings, and other surfaces com pletely covered by etched drawings, sculpted artworks, paintings, and hieroglyphics telling the story of the pharaohs, the people, and their gods -- and this was just the first few days of our odyssey. After leaving Luxor, we com menced our delightful cruise up the Nile, so different from ocean cruis ing, as there were scenes to behold all along the banks of the Nile. Lush farmlands, date palm trees, sugarcane fields, towns and villages, and people everywhere along the riverbank busy with their daily activ ities; in the river, fishermen tending their nets, barges carrying sugar cane and other commodities. Many of these scenes would be unchanged from those of hundreds of years ago. At each port of call we visited, there were even more incredible antiquities. Our first was Esna, where we visited the temple of Knum, almost intact, but the outside walls of this temple and a few others showed some damage where Napoleon's sol diers had taken pot-shots at them as target practice. This temple was right in the centre of the very old town of Esna. A rather poor town with unpaved and undulat ing streets, but it was fascinating for our group to walk through the town : BOB KERBY Cruising to the temple and back. We visited a primitive bakery, where they were making Egyptian bread, and another old house where they were making oil with a centuries old press. Merchants along the streets selling all manner of local goods and produce, were friendly and happy to see us. There was even a snake-charmer with his basket of cobras. Here, as almost everywhere in Egypt, when they saw our Canada pins or learned we were Canadians, they responded with "Canada Dry" (well-known label in Egypt). In the next two days, we visited temples in Edfu and Kom Ombo -- the one in Edfu being the best pre served temple in all of Egypt, built in 327 B.C. by Ptolemy HI. The one in Kom Ombo not as well preserved, but unique and interesting. Arriving in Aswan next, we dis embarked from the cruise ship and went on a delightful sunset sail on a felluca -- one of the unique Egyptian sailboards, very popular in Aswan. Here, we also visited the Aswan or "High" dam, one of the world's largest. The dam provides an abun dance of electric power to Egypt and, as well, is expected to expand the arable land along the banks of the Nile, and in due course with some crops, they hope to reap three har vests a year. The next day, we flew to Abu Simbel, in the heart of the Nubian ter ritory, just north of the border of Sudan, to see the most unusual and majestic temple in all of Egypt. Built by Ramses II some 3200 years ago, the famous four statues of Ramses, almost 10 storeys high, together with all of the temple and contents, the adjoining temple dedicated to Ramses' wife Nefertari, and even the rock the face of the hillside in which they were constructed, were moved to higher ground to avoid being lost to the flood waters created by the high dam. This gigantic enterprise was spearheaded by the United Nations and the United States. The temple was built with such precision that, twice a year, at the solstices, the sun penetrates the entire length of the temple, and floods the statues of Ramses and two of the gods, with sunlight for about five minutes. The modem engineers undertook to duplicate this phenomenon at the new location, and they succeeded, but with great difficulty. Everyone in our group was just awe struck by this astounding antiquity, as well as the enormity of the task of moving it. Every day, our highly qualified Egyptologist guide continued to pro vide detailed interpretations and background information which made it so much more rewarding for our group. We've just touched on the high lights of this wonderful trip thus far, but we will have to continue next week with coverage of our visit to the Sinai Peninsula, and our final three days in Cairo. Submitted by Jim Jackson, Groups Manager, BOB'S cruises, 338-2077. NORWEGIAN' C R U I S E L I NE Scandinavian Capitals N orwegian D ream - August 24/99 12 Day - Dover to Dover Visit London, Berlin, St Petersburg (overnight), Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, & Oslo From $3,360cdn per person based on double occupancy. Air & port charges extra. Bonus Features 2 Night Hotel in London" Complimentary Shore Excursion • Fully Escorted ' Subject to availability Book now!! Limited availability at this special price! Cruise Holidays of Oakville; _J905) 337-2228 • (888) 444-2228'Hu/sph^\ jCRU/SEl \J 'IH O U D A Y S h ^ ^ -- * www.hobkedoncruising.corn Promoting a healthy balance physically, emotionally, and with spirit and vitality. Introducing BODY SYSTEMS a complete nutritional assessment with a pre-packaged supplement plan with Carol Smith C.C. Ir„ RHN Maintaining our health can be a difficult thing - high pollution, high stress, nutritionally devalued foods. Body Systems, through consultation and supplements will help you meet today's demanding lifestyle. S Call today to book your Body System $65.00 consultation fee plus cost o f supplements_____ i Miller Mews - 323 Church Street, Oakville Phone (905) 845-6160 Fax: (90 5) 845-4383 | OAKVILLE f i B i c n SISTER ASSOCIATION Do you know a girl between 4 and 18 years who could benefit from a one to one relationship with an adult female volunteer? Please call Karen or Fiona at 338-0238 to see if Big Sisters is right for you! ALSO NEEDED; VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBERS http://www.hobkedoncruising.corn